asked the Minister for Agriculture if he has received a submission from the Irish Farmers' Association in relation to the introduction of a floor price for sheep; and if he will state his attitude towards it.

26.

andMr. Bruton asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will introduce a minimum floor price for sheep pending the introduction by the EEC of a common agricultural policy regarding sheep.

With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 25 and 26 together. I have had representations from the Irish Farmers' Association about the introduction of a minimum floor price for sheep. As proposals for a common agricultural policy for sheep and sheepmeat are expected from the Commission at an early date and as the introduction of a further national aid here would not help negotiations on these proposals, I do not propose to introduce a scheme of minimum floor prices for sheep.

Does the Minister agree that Irish sheep producers must have an assurance that a floor price will be provided by someone as soon as possible, and will he state if he expects a floor price to be provided by the EEC within six months and, if not, will he take action himself?

I cannot anticipate the EEC's proposals to the Council. I assure the Deputy that I am as aware as I have been for the past four years of the serious effects on our sheep industry generally of the closure of access to the European market. In that regard I have had a number of conversations with the French Minister for Agriculture and members of his Ministry, and I expect to meet people from the French Ministry in Dublin next week in order to try to settle the problew which has bedevilled the sheep industry since our entry into the Community. The intermittent opening and closing of the French market and the massive importation of Third World supplies into the UK under treaty are the main factors which I am actively pursuing with the French Government at present.

Is the Minister talking about the possibility of a bilateral agreement or is he talking about a common organisation of the market for sheep meat and the conditions for such an organisation?

If we can make a satisfactory bilateral arrangement with the French that will not prejudice our position in a common organisation of the market that would arrive later under the auspices of the Commission, we would be glad to take it because, as Deputy Bruton pointed out, we need better market prices for our sheep and we need them now.

When I was Minister for Agriculture I had a bilateral agreement almost arranged but the Commission stepped in and refused to allow a bilateral arrangement within the Community and this was backed by the British.

Is the Deputy asking a question?

I am. How can the Minister now say that the Commission and the Council will accept a bilateral agreement between Ireland and France on sheep meat when they have already refused to accept it?

It seems that Deputy Clinton's point is a counsel of despair. The fact that he was unsuccessful in his valiant efforts to solve the problem does not mean that the problem is not solvable. We are attempting to solve the problem and I believe we will be successful. Deputy Clinton should not assert that everybody else is destined to fail because he failed.

Is the Minister aware that the hill farmers, particularly in the West, are limited to a single enterprise and that, unless a minimum floor price is introduced pending a common policy, there will be a significant decrease in the number of sheep with a resultant disastrous effect on the industry as a whole?

I am aware that our failure to break into the European market at reasonable prices has hit the hill farmers very hard for the reason given by the Deputy. The lowland sheep producer can more easily revert to other projects. The drop of more than a million in the past four years in our flock of four-and-a-half million occurred mainly in lowland flocks. The main reason for the decrease is the one that Deputy Kenny mentions, that there is no choice of enterprise in the hill areas.

Does the Minister agree that, if there is an argument against introducing a floor price here, it might discourage the Community from organising the market themselves on the grounds that we had taken care of our own problem and that the same argument could be applied to any bilateral arrangement that we might have with France, and that by so doing we would be deferring the day when the Community would introduce a common organisation?

I said we would consider a bilateral arrangement provided it did not prejudice a common organisation of the market that might later follow from the Commission.

How can the Minister be sure of that?

It can be done if you make it a condition of any bilateral arrangement that it will not prejudice any later arrangement.

The Commission would not be a party to a bilateral arrangement.

I do not contemplate making any bilateral arrangements and leaving the Commission in ignorance of our actions.

The Minister would want more than that.

It is not an easy one to solve, as my predecessor discovered.